After tooth extraction, many patients complain of pain in the area of the extracted tooth - the gums are swollen or sore, what to do in this case? Pain in the gums can be either normal or a sign of some complications. Pain (its strength, duration, dynamics of development) depends on the reasons for which the tooth was removed, the characteristics of the operation, the general therapy prescribed by the surgeon and the patient’s compliance with the recommendations.
Here we will try to understand the questions:
- Which pain is normal and which is a sign of a problem;
- What to do to reduce pain after tooth extraction;
- Where to go and what to do if complications arise.
Why is tooth extraction required?
In certain cases, tooth extraction is the only possible method of solving a particular dental problem. Indications for removal may include:
- Incorrect position of the tooth, when neither the patient nor the doctor can access it (high-quality hygiene and/or treatment is impossible);
- The absence of the main part of the dental material without a chance of its restoration;
- Malocclusions (for example, severe crowding);
- Inflammatory process in the roots of the tooth, which can lead to infection;
- Painful eruption of wisdom teeth.
This is also necessary when preparing to correct your bite using Invisalign aligners. In particular, it is usually necessary to remove the “eights” if they have not fully erupted and can interfere with quality orthodontic treatment. It is worth noting that such a decision should be prepared when there are certain indications and no other option is possible.
Otherwise, when installing aligners, the unerupted tooth hidden inside the gum will prevent the aligner from attaching and pull the remaining teeth in the right direction, leaving them no room to move.
Causes of pain
Why does a tooth hurt? The nerve has been removed, but the discomfort remains. Dentists name the main situations when unpleasant sensations may occur:
- Reason 1. The tooth was poorly treated: the canal was poorly filled and as a result, pathogenic bacteria developed there and “sank” into the root of the tooth, gum or bone. Therefore, discomfort in the gums and bones is perceived as pain in the tooth, which is why the patient often complains that he had a tooth removed and his gums hurt.
- Reason 2. The nerve in the tooth was not killed. It is enough for a tiny piece of nerve to remain for the pain to continue to torment its owner: the tooth hurts when the weather changes, reacts to hot and cold, aches at night.
That is why it needs to be treated again: drilled out, cleaned the channels, reached to the top of the root. After this, the site of infection is removed and a filling is placed. After quality treatment, patients will not complain that their tooth hurts. The nerve has been removed and there is no longer any cause for discomfort.
Why does a pulled out tooth hurt?
The presence of pain after tooth extraction is due to the fact that soft tissues, blood vessels and nerves are damaged during tooth extraction. Typically, the first pain symptoms appear 3-4 hours after surgery. This is due to the fact that this is when the anesthesia stops working.
Also, during removal, the bone tissue of the jaw socket may be damaged. In this case, the pain during the healing period is more intense and prolonged. However, if the removal was carried out correctly, it will soon pass.
How long does it hurt?
In most cases, pain during removal worsens on the second day. On the third day they begin to decrease. By the fourth or fifth day, there is practically no pain. If by this period the pain after tooth extraction does not subside, the patient should consult a doctor, as this may indicate the emergence of complications.
However, it is important to remember that complete healing of the hole occurs only in the second or third week after the procedure. Until this time, the gums and bone tissue are vulnerable, so if they are irritated, pain may also occur. To prevent this from happening, you should follow your doctor's recommendations.
Headache
The recovery period after tooth extraction may be accompanied by headaches of varying intensity. They are associated with damage to the nerve fibers that go to the brain. Such symptoms should not frighten the patient, since as the wound heals, they will also pass.
Another cause of headaches during this period may be hypertension. The patient must notify the attending physician about the presence of such an illness. In this case, the surgeon will be able to select appropriate medications that will reduce pain.
Ear pain
For the same reasons, a patient may experience unpleasant or even painful sensations in the ear after tooth extraction. Most often they have a shooting character. This symptom is also normal and goes away in the coming days after the intervention.
Ear pain may worsen if, after the procedure, the patient does not properly care for the oral cavity and tries to chew solid food.
Pain in the gums
Pain in the gum is associated with its direct damage. In this case, not only the soft tissue suffers, but also the nerves, which are also located in the gums. Depending on the degree of damage, pain can last for different times and occur with greater or less intensity.
Increased pain in the gum may indicate the presence of fragments in its tissues, as well as the occurrence of one or another complication. If such symptoms occur, you should immediately consult a specialist.
What happens if you ignore pathological pain
The appearance of pain always signals a problem in the body. If the tooth was removed long ago, and the pain persists or increases, this is evidence of a complication. Pain may be associated with:
- Increased body temperature;
- severe swelling, redness of the mucous membrane;
- halitosis;
- purulent discharge from the socket;
- white or gray coating on the mucous membrane;
- enlargement of the submandibular lymph nodes;
- pain while swallowing;
- restriction when opening the mouth.
In this situation, you should see a doctor immediately.
Ignoring alarming symptoms is fraught with serious problems, such as abscess and osteomyelitis. These are serious pathologies that require timely, qualified treatment.
Will the site of the extracted tooth stop hurting on the second day?
Patients often believe that the pain at the site of pulled out teeth should go away after sleeping on the second day, and they get scared when it becomes even stronger. This situation is normal, since after a certain time the damaged gum tissue begins to swell, thereby pinching the nerves. All this leads to pain becoming more intense.
You need to be prepared for this. Today there are a large number of analgesics and other medications that can reduce inflammation and eliminate pain syndromes.
The site of tooth extraction hurts after a week, what should I do?
The holes in which the extracted teeth were located are usually completely healed by the end of the first week. Final healing still needs to wait, but the pain should have passed during this period. If, after a week, the area continues to hurt after tooth extraction or any other symptoms appear, such as bleeding, the patient urgently needs to see a doctor.
Under no circumstances should you try to relieve pain on your own. If it continues to bother the patient, this may indicate the development of inflammation or an abscess process in the gum. If they are not eliminated in time, the consequences can be very serious.
Duration of pain syndrome
The duration of pain depends on the complexity of the operation performed and the complications that arise. As a rule, acute pain subsides on the second day after tooth extraction. But sometimes it happens that it persists after the tooth has been removed. The damaged area hurts for a week - this is a reason to pay attention to whether there are other important symptoms: swelling, temperature, unpleasant odor from the hole, purulent discharge from the wound. If there are no other complaints, then we are probably talking about the individual characteristics of the body. Most likely, the doctor in this case will recommend waiting a couple more weeks and observing the condition.
In doubtful cases, a general blood test will be required to determine the presence of a hidden inflammatory process. Sometimes bacterial inflammation in tissues can only be determined in this way. If suspicions are confirmed, antibiotics will be prescribed for 7-10 days.
The most important thing that every person suffering from pain after tooth extraction should remember is that the symptoms should not increase. Although slowly, the inflammation should decrease. You should not ignore unpleasant sensations and neglect your own health, as the consequences can be disastrous.
Category: Tooth extraction Published by Mister stomatolog
Stages of socket healing
The holes in the place of pulled out teeth heal in several stages. The first one lasts about a week. At this time, the wound heals, its surface becomes smoother. The patient can return to his usual lifestyle - eat regular food, brush his teeth, etc. Usually, during this period, a blood clot remains on the surface of the hole, which in no case should be torn off, as this can lead to bleeding and will slow down the final healing process.
Complete healing of the wound ends by the end of the second week. At this time, the clot disappears, and residual pain goes away. The last stage, that is, complete healing, ends by the end of the third week. If the intervention was very serious, this period may last 4 weeks. By this time, the nerve fibers and blood vessels are completely restored, and the gums become completely smooth.
Socket bleeding
Socket bleeding most often appears immediately after surgery, although sometimes several days pass between tooth extraction and the onset of bleeding.
Bleeding from the socket of an extracted tooth can occur for several reasons:
- The patient actively disturbs the socket of the extracted tooth - he feels it with his tongue or hands, inaccurately brushes his teeth or aggressively treats the sore spot with an irrigator;
- Physical damage in the socket area - gum injury, fracture of the alveoli, and so on;
- Concomitant diseases of the patient: hypertension, leukemia, etc.
Treatment for alveolar bleeding depends on the cause and source of bleeding.
Healing of the hole
If the gums bleed in the area of the socket, then the problem may be complications after surgery, and the wound will need to be stitched.
If blood comes from the vessels directly in the walls of the socket of the extracted tooth, then it is first cooled, after which the vessels are compressed and a tampon with a hemostatic agent is placed in the socket for 4-5 days.
If local remedies do not give the desired effect, the dentist prescribes the patient to take general hemostatic agents.
Complications after removal
In some cases, tooth extraction can cause complications. They can be associated both with poor quality of the procedure itself and with illiterate oral care during the healing period.
The main complications that may arise during tooth extraction include the following:
- an abscess that appears as a result of infection in open wounds in the sockets where teeth used to be;
- bleeding, which may be a consequence of injury to the gums during the healing period, and may also occur due to the presence of hypertension or poor blood clotting in the patient;
- paresthesia, characterized by numbness of the gums or part of the jaw in the place where the tooth was pulled out.
One of the most serious complications is osteomyelitis. It is characterized by the presence of an inflammatory process in the bone and bone marrow. This disease can occur when the patient has an infection of the bone tissue against the background of a general decrease in immunity. This disease requires immediate treatment.
Symptoms
The main symptom of a complication after tooth extraction is increased pain after the 5th day of healing. If by this period they do not subside, then you need to contact a specialist to find out the reasons. This could be either inflammatory processes or the presence of tooth particles that went unnoticed after the procedure.
Another symptom is a strong increase in temperature, sharp cramps in the head that last more than 5 days. This can also cause your gums to swell. If this happens, it means that the swelling cannot go away for some reason. This, in turn, is a sure sign of a complication.
Reasons for the development of complications
There can be a large number of reasons for the appearance of one or another complication. In addition to medical errors and improper oral care, these include the presence of certain physical diseases in the patient, which can lead to the development of inflammation or frequent bleeding.
To prevent such situations from arising, the patient must warn the doctor about all his ailments, even if he is sure that they will not affect the outcome of the procedure. After this, the specialist will be able to select certain medications that will reduce the risk of complications and make the wound healing process more comfortable.
How to get rid of discomfort after molar extraction
To remove painful sensations, you need to understand their cause. If the issue is a mistake made by the surgeon, then measures are taken to eliminate the adverse consequences. If the hole is infected or an inflammatory process has developed, mouth rinses with an anti-inflammatory drug and oral antibiotics are prescribed. The same is done for “dry socket” and clot displacement.
Timely treatment can quickly normalize the situation - speed up regenerative processes and relieve the patient from painful toothache. Therefore, there is no need to self-medicate.
What to do after removal?
After tooth extraction, it is important to maintain proper oral hygiene and also slightly limit your diet. The main recommendations are:
- You can apply a cold compress to the damaged gum, which will reduce the pain;
- if the bleeding does not decrease, you can firmly press a cotton swab between the teeth in the area of tooth extraction;
- For disinfection, rinses based on natural herbs should be used;
- It is better to eat only warm and soft foods without solid particles.
Medications can also be used to reduce discomfort. However, you can only use those medications prescribed by your doctor. He should also tell you how long to rinse so as not to damage the wound.
If at any stage of healing the patient feels an increase in pain symptoms or discomfort that is not normal, he should immediately inform the doctor.
Prevention methods
Tooth extraction is often required when the 3rd molar (molar) is out of position. However, surgery is also prescribed for caries, abscesses and cysts, and injuries. To prevent caries, you should pay enough attention to oral hygiene, undergo regular dental checkups and clean the enamel from plaque and tartar. Immediately after surgery, it is important to observe several conditions that will help avoid complications and headaches:
- use disinfectant solutions for the oral cavity - they clean the wound from pathogenic microflora;
- take only soft, liquid food in the first few days, so as not to further injure the socket;
- Do not remove a blood clot from the postoperative socket yourself, but if it falls out, consult a doctor.
At the Clinical Brain Institute, you can undergo all the necessary examinations, determine the exact cause of the headache and receive a competent treatment regimen. Our center employs only experienced specialists, general and specialized doctors, as well as modern, precision equipment. There are all conditions for quick and high-quality diagnosis, regular examinations, as well as outpatient and inpatient treatment of headaches.
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